Tips to make a new house more homely

kmmr

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right place for this, but I have finished a renovation project, and while I love it, I have been so focussed on getting all the big stuff finished, I haven't had time to think about the soft furnishings and homey touches!

We have very little furniture and threw out heaps of bits and pieces when we started the renovation, and are a little strapped for cash after the renovation, so are just getting a few key pieces from IKEA and EBay.

So I was hoping people on this site may have some clever and cheap ideas to give the place a bit more of a homey feel. We would like to get some pictures, but want to take a bit of time to get them right as they are expensive, and other than that I don't seem to have many ideas on how to make it just feel more like my place, and more like home.

I know it's a personal thing, but I just wondered if anyone has a few clever and quick ideas to make a fairly plain white/wood place look a bit less showroom and a bit more like a home!

We are also having a Christmas party/housewarming next week, and although we don't have a lot of time, I'd love any ideas anyone has for a bit of 'wow' christmas factor, as well as making people feel relaxed and at home.

Thanks everyone! This site has been great for me through the renovation and thanks in advance for the on-going help!
:beer:

KMMR

vivatifosi

When I moved into my old house I bought some vases and jugs that were pleasing shapes but really ugly pictures/patterns (hence v cheap at boot sales etc) and sprayed them all with decorative paint in the same colour so that they looked like a collection.

My first pictures were from fashion magazines, mounted using spray mount and then put into cheap frames until I could afford something more expensive.

Pot pourri, candles etc also give a house a lived in feel as well as a homely fragrance, which is important.

Cushions, rugs etc can be picked up relatively cheaply from places such as Ikea and Dunelm Mill. I've bought some gorgeous and cheap mirrors from Dunelm Mill too.

I work in a library and we have stacks of books on finishing interiors that would help you find something to your taste. Interiors books are expensive at £20+ per book, so borrow several and find some that reflect your personal tastes.

beedeedee

Large blank artwork canvasses can be bought cheaply from Dunelm mills or art shops. A pot or two of kiddies poster paints and Voila.... !
No need to actually paint - just splash or dab in colours to suit the furnishings in each room! They'll certainly look good for a few years.

Doozergirl

Time to go through your old photos!

I think it's one of the cheapest ways to get something that is personal to you. When we moved to a bigger house, I went through and ordered photos in different sizes from photobox or somewhere, whilst having the Ikea website open to check against their frame sizes. Lots of pics of us, plus SIL and her fiance are brilliant photographers and we off travelling at the time so I also used some of the landscape shots from their flickr account which they were updating constantly!

Ikea frames are plain and you have the choice of woods, black or silver. A restrained colour palette is better, I discovered! Dunelm also have a large selection of frames, I got some nice black ones from there.

I think photos are much, much better than filling the house with random Ikea prints that you know everyone else has as well. Bunch them together as well, different sizes, it's more interesting than just dotting one or two here and there.

Homesense by TK Maxx is also great for bits and pieces - vases, prints. You'll find things that others won't have and the price is reasonable, with the occassional bargain! They are good for cushions as well - I have quite a few plain silk ones that were about £10 each. You can top up with more fancy ones in a co-ordinating colour when you have more cash.

I love livingetc magazine for inspiration - the style is accessible, but it doesn't look like you've colour co-ordinated everything from Next or Laura Ashley and the rooms reflect personality. If you have a look at the 'see what I made' forum on their website, there are some shining examples of homemade style that you might be able to copy if you're inclined. Lots of thing that people have copied for a fraction of the price, all of them talking points.
https://livingetc.ipcmediasecure.com/forums/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/seewhatimade

Lots of shops have outlets on ebay - Graham & Green is a favourite of mine. Same stuff, cheaper. Change bog standard handles on Ikea furniture for more fancy ones to be different.

Feature walls if you want to ruin your brand new paintwork! Invest in a couple of really decent rolls (the cheaper rolls often look it) and you can fill a room with instant personality. If you find a nice paper in the likes of John Lewis, search the web for discount wallpaper providers and email them for quotes. You can save about 15%.

And get your lighting right. You can cosy up a room that has no pictures on the wall at all with lamps and candles etc.

I love this blog for inspiration:
http://conversationpieces.co.uk

Yorkie1

For your open house, plain white christmas lights and/or tealights will make the place look really homely.

trinity_enigma

Obviously cushions and a rug or two soften the edges up.

Ornaments such as bowls and vases, even with nothing in can look nice. Candles always fill up a space, can be in any colour shape or size.

When I lived with a flat mate a few years ago we were a bit skint, but made the walls nicer with some clip frames (although proper frames would have been nicer, but dearer) which we filled with pieces of wallpaper we had gotten from our local focus- we kept nicking bits to 'see how it would look at home'.

Puzzledbubbles

OH and i are currently adding a few homely touches, after being here a year we just plonked all of his furniture in and added a few of "my" bits, now we have photos up -one massive collage in the front room with white space for the next batch of pics of us and mirrors and bits on the walls.

One thing that made a huge difference to us was Curtains and Candles

Look out in your local £ land or 99p stores for pretty but cheap candles - i wouldnt recomend lighting some of them (they reek) but they do look pretty and have a wide range of colours.

HTH

kmmr

Thanks everyone,

We are actually pretty keen photographers, but never seem to get around to getting the best ones blown up. We will do that in the long run.

We are lucky to have travelled a fair bit, so the goal is to get enough pictures to make a bit of a photomontage style world map! So long as you exclude North and South America I think we will be fine. ;-)

But, of course, the problem with that is it takes time and can be left indefinately while we try to make it perfect.

So in the short term I will put up a few clusters of photos, I have pulled out an old rug that isn't perfect, but is nice and already softening things up. Fairy lights are ordered from EBay so should be here on Friday. I am going to head to Dunhelm Mill to get some nice cheap stuff to make a lovely Christmas table for Saturday, so hopefully that will do the job.

I do love candles, but there are 4 kids around 1 year old coming on Saturday, so I think that won't work... we will have a Christmas tree though, which always makes things look homey.

I've also unpacked all the books and odd decorative things which are mismatched and not quite the look I thought I wanted, but I did say I wanted the place to be less 'magaziney' and a range of mismatched knick knacks will always achieve that!!

I'll put a few pics on the blog when I have it all Christmassy and ready!